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Manufacturing costs for refiners would increase significantly under the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed Tier 3 sulfur-reduction rules, according to an American Petroleum Institute-commissioned study. "More importantly, EPA has yet to demonstrate any air-quality benefits from reducing sulfur in the amount proposed," said Bob Greco, group director of downstream and industry operations at API. Such standards would also raise greenhouse-gas emissions "because of the use of energy-intensive hydrotreating equipment to remove sulfur from the gasoline," he added.

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The Environmental Protection Agency has released new regulations aimed at reducing sulfur content in gasoline by two-thirds to help curb emissions from automobiles. The American Petroleum Institute criticized the move, saying it will increase the price of gasoline by up to 9 cents per gallon. "Any reform that increases the cost of manufacturing a product would put pressure on the price of that product. The costs being borne by industry are making it less competitive and affecting the consumer," said Bob Greco, API's director of refining and marketing.

The Environmental Protection Agency has issued rules requiring a 67% reduction in the sulfur content of gasoline in 2017. The rules, intended to reduce pollution, were developed with input from refineries and oil producers, this article says. However, refineries note the new rules will require a more energy-intense process that creates more greenhouse gas-emissions.

The Environmental Protection Agency's proposed rules that would reduce the sulfur content in gasoline will only increase costs for refiners but produce little significant improvement in air quality, the American Petroleum Institute said, citing a study by Environ International. According to the report, such policies would lead to "only very small additional improvements in 2022 summertime ozone concentrations."

Valero Energy expressed concern about the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed emissions standards, saying it would boost expenses. Up to $400 million could be spent for expanding facilities and developing technology to cut sulfur content in gasoline, said Bill Day, a spokesman for the refiner.

The Environmental Protection Agency's proposed Tier 3 sulfur-reduction rules for cars and gasoline would adopt E15 as an emissions test fuel. The proposed shift to E15, from indolene, is meant to "better match today's in-use gasoline and also to be forward-looking with respect to future ethanol and sulfur content," the agency said. Moreover, the EPA is proposing the use of E85 as an emissions test fuel to certify flex-fuel vehicles and may allow automakers to use alternative test fuels such as E30.